Methods of making microporous film products have been known for some time. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,267, to Liu, teaches the melt-embossing of a polyolefin film containing a dispersed amorphous polymer phase prior to stretching or orientation to improve gas and moisture vapor transmission of the film. According to the Liu '267 patent, a film of crystalline polypropylene having a dispersed amorphous polypropylene phase is embossed prior to biaxially drawing (stretching) to produce an oriented imperforate film having greater permeability. The dispersed amorphous phase serves to provide microvoids to enhance the permeability of the otherwise imperforate film to improve moisture vapor transmission (MVT). The embossed film is preferably embossed and drawn sequentially.
Many other patents and publications disclose the phenomenon of making microporous thermoplastic film products. For example, European patent 141,592 discloses the use of a polyolefin, particularly ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) containing a dispersed polystyrene phase which, when stretched, produces a voided film which improves the moisture vapor permeability of the film. The EP '592 patent also discloses the sequential steps of embossing the EVA film with thick and thin areas followed by stretching to first provide a film having voids which, when further stretched, produces a net-like product. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,596,738 and 4,452,845 also disclose stretched thermoplastic films where the dispersed phase may be a polyethylene filled with calcium carbonate to provide the microvoids upon stretching. Later U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,777,073; 4,921,653; and 4,814,124 disclose the same processes described by the above-mentioned earlier publications involving the steps of first embossing a polyolefin film containing a filler and then stretching that film to provide a microporous product.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,705,812 and 4,705,813 disclose microporous films having been produced from a blend of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) with barium sulfate as the inorganic filler having an average particle diameter of 0.1-7 microns. It is also know to modify blends of LLDPE and LDPE with a thermoplastic rubber such as KRATON. Other patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,871 disclose the use of thermoplastic styrene block tripolymers in the production of microporous films with other incompatible polymers such as styrene. There are other general teachings in the art such as the disclosures in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,921,652 and 4,472,328.
The stretching, as discussed above, results in the appearance of stripes along the length of the web. These stripes are caused by the difference in appearance between the highly stretched areas, occurring between the digits on the interdigital rolls, and the areas at the digits which are not as highly stretched. These methods result in stripes of highly stretched, highly porous areas adjacent moderately stretched, but still substantially porous, areas.
Relevant patents regarding extrusion lamination of unstretched non-woven webs include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,714,571; 3,058,868; 4,522,203; 4,614,679; 4,692,368; 4,753,840 and 5,035,941. The above '863 and '368 patents disclose stretching extruded polymeric films prior to laminating with unstretched non-woven fibrous webs at pressure roller nips. The '203 and '941 patents are directed to co-extruding multiple polymeric films with unstretched non-woven webs at pressure roller nips. The '840 patent discloses preforming non-woven polymeric fiber materials prior to extrusion laminating with films to improve bonding between the non-woven fibers and films. More specifically, the '840 patent discloses conventional embossing techniques to form densified and undensified areas in non-woven base plies prior to extrusion lamination to improve bonding between non-woven fibrous webs and films due to the densified fiber areas. The '941 patent also teaches that unstretched non-woven webs that are extrusion laminated to single-ply polymeric films are susceptible to pinholes caused by fibers extending generally vertically from the plane of the fiber substrate and, accordingly, this patent discloses using multiple co-extruded film plies to prevent pinhole problems. Furthermore, methods for bonding loose non-woven fibers to polymeric film are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,622,422; 4,379,197 and 4,725,473.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/547,059 (herein incorporated by reference in its entirety), now abandoned, discloses a process and apparatus to continuously perform web splitting, separating, guiding and laminating steps in a single unit. A single wide web of a non-woven is slit into a number of narrow webs which are separated by the use of turning bars and steered into a laminator. More specifically, a web is unrolled from a wide roll of non-woven material. The incoming web is slit into narrow webs, the narrow webs move down line to turning bars which are displaced one from the other by a desired web separation distance. The spaced narrow webs are then guided into a nip of rollers for extrusion lamination with a polymer film. A molten polymer is extruded into the nip at a temperature above its softening point to form a polymeric film laminated to the narrow webs. The compressive force between the webs and the extrudate at the nip is controlled to bond one surface of the web to the film to form the laminate. The resulting laminate includes spaced strips of non-woven laminated to the polymer film with areas of nonlaminated film between the strips.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/722,286 (herein incorporated by reference in its entirety), a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/547,059, discloses a process and apparatus to continuously perform lamination of a polymer to another material to which it is laminated. The '286 application is directed to a process and apparatus to continuously perform non-woven web splitting, folding, guiding and laminating steps in a single unit. Depending on the spacing between folded webs, each strip of polymer may include a loose flap on either side of the laminate area which may be suitable for forming a barrier cuff in a diaper or other hygiene product. The spacing between folded webs determines the width of the loose polymer flap which is formed. Again, the resulting laminate includes spaced strips of non-woven laminated to the polymer film with areas of nonlaminated film between the strips. These laminates, having spaced laminated strips of non-woven and film with areas of nonlaminated film therebetween, are referred to as zone laminates. The resulting laminate includes spaced strips of non-woven laminated to the polymer film with areas of nonlaminated film between the strips.